“Carriers on both sides of the border suffer the consequences in access to international trade bridges,” the text added.
The business chambers said they understand “the purpose” of these reviews but warned that it is “seriously affecting the exchange of goods,” which puts the supply chain at risk and causes “million dollar losses in international trade.”
They explained that the ports “most affected” by this “extraordinary” measure are the World Trade Bridge in Nuevo Laredo, the Colombia International Bridge in Nuevo León and the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge.
In the letter addressed to the governor of Texas, they “respectfully” requested to allow the flow of commercial vehicles and “accelerate” inspections of merchandise and shipments without disrupting “crossing times.”
The letter mentions that trade between the two nations is in the order of a million dollars per minute and that Texas “accounts for more than 50% of said trade.”
“We hope to obtain attention and a solution to this problem with this deployment. We are sister nations with similar objectives, let us find solutions together,” the document says.
Organizations such as the Mexican Council for Foreign Trade (Comce) in Laredo and Tamaulipas, the Laredo Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Customs Agents of Reynosa and the National Chamber of the Transformation Industry (Canacintra) in Matamoros signed the letter.
In another statement, the National Agricultural Council (CNA) of Mexico considered it “urgent” to take action in the face of inspections on the Mexico-Texas border.
“The National Agricultural Council (CNA) expresses its concern about the tightening ordered by the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, in the security inspections of commercial vehicles that cross the border, as the situation is seriously impacting the movement of fresh products from Mexico. to the American Union,” warned the organization.
The Secretary of the Economy, Tatiana Clouthier, announced this Tuesday morning that she met with directors of the 3M company, to whom she asked for their support to join the call for greater streamlining of merchandise exchange on the northern border.
We had a working breakfast with @3M Mexico and we talked about the importance of promoting research to improve solutions. Take the opportunity to ask your CEO to join the call to the authorities on the northern border to let trade flow. pic.twitter.com/orCKAONo1W
– Tatiana Clouthier (@tatclouthier)
April 12, 2022
Controversy
Abbott announced last week that all commercial traffic from Mexico to Texas would be subject to inspection by state officials after passing federal inspection at ports of entry.
That measure has caused waiting times for trucks arriving at the border loaded with agricultural products to extend to more than 30 hours in some cases.
This Monday, Mexican carriers blocked the Pharr International Bridge, which connects with the Mexican city of Reynosa, in protest, after some of them had been stranded for 16 hours.
Juan Hinojosa, vice chairman of the Texas Senate Finance Committee, said the Pharr Bridge typically processes 3,000 trucks a day, but since inspections began last Thursday only about 300 trucks have made it across a day.
Among the provisions taken last Wednesday in response to the decision of the Joe Biden government to lift the health regulations (Title 42) that allowed undocumented immigrants to be expelled due to the covid-19 pandemic, Abbott -known for his ultra-conservative positions- threatened to send immigrants detained on buses to Washington DC
With information from EFE
